My little baby Sawyer is three months old. Yay. He smiles now. He gurgles and coos. He is delightfully what every pregnant woman thinks they will get when they come home from the hospital. Know what I mean? He’s not quite so wobbly, there is a LOT less shrieking, and he can sleep for some good long stretches (sometimes*).
Reflections on the first three months:Â Cuddly and sweet-smelling with a little torture thrown in.
Being a baby mama for the third time meant that I was very well supported by my local and Internet parenting community. Hand-me-downs, twitter advice, and generous surprises of FOOD were so abundant and lovely. So, thanks for that.
But regardless of my prior experience, mothering a newborn is hard (albeit snuggly) work. Whitney told me that six weeks of sleep deprivation is actually considered torture, and I believe her. There were hours at a time when Soy Bean would only sleep on me. And only if I was on the move. If I was well-fed and hydrated (and didn’t have to pee), those were cuddly, happy moments. But if I needed to brush my teeth or make someone’s lunch, ugh!
Help. Can't. Reach. Coffee.
These are a few of my favorite things:
- You already know I love my iPhone.
- Miracle swaddling blanket and Fisher Price side-to-side lamb swing combo. Once Sawyer stopped sleeping only on my body, we moved him into the swing in the adjacent room swaddled up. See the photo to see how we safely rigged him in there. Now getting him out of this sleeping arrangement and into a crib will be my next challenge!
- Philips Avent video monitor. We had a normal audio-only monitor in the past but I admit it, I really like watching “sleeping baby TV.” A setting lets me turn the screen off unless he’s making noise too. **
- Hygeia breast pump. I first heard of the Enjoye when Kristen called it the best breast pump you’ve never heard of on Cool Mom Picks. Unlike nearly every other pump, it can be safely shared and handed down to other moms rather than cluttering the landfills. Yay! I am so grateful to Kate for sending one to me and I can’t wait to pass it along to the next mama! After we finish using it every day.
Some moments, like this one, when he takes a long nap and I can catch my breath, all I want to do is look at pictures of him.
+++
Disclosures, Notes, and Whatnot:
The first three months of this baby’s life were more than a little challenging. Not sure how dark I can get and still be more fun than wiping someone’s tushy, I kept it light. But my gal Whitney remembers it with more clarity. She says, “You felt really terrible and never wanted to leave the house. Nursing hurt. Your back hurt. Your coochie, I don’t know. Your mental state was er, no comment.”
* Don’t get me wrong. We’re not sleeping through the night and to imply that would be to jinx any hope we have of doing so in the near term.
** This monitor was sent to me for free as a replacement for an older model Philips baby monitor that is no longer working. I reviewed that model years ago as part of the Parent Bloggers Network.
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